It is no secret that Indian education system is nonsensical. Or, to put it more humbly, not the best. It is too much to handle for kids or, as I like to call them, juveniles.
3 years of nursery education then 12 years of primary education, running parallel with different coaching classes and tuition, how much can a kid take?
Plus, given the fact that we have an increasing number of skill-less, jobless youth and an exemplary youth suicide rate, it’s safe to say that we ain’t doing any good.
Recently, in an interview with Business Standard, Dev Lahiri, an academician, put forth a suggestion. He said, “we need to end school education in class XI and have one preparatory year before we send kids off to college.”
The rationale given by him for such a suggestion is that in school we live by the bell. Everything is structured. And then we are sent off to college where everything is largely unstructured.
He further said, “Students are simply not prepared for universities. So, in my view, there should be a gap year to prepare where you learn a different set of skills; the ability to research, reference, to ask questions, to allow them to think out of the box…”
What Mr. Dev Lahiri has suggested is actually not a bad idea.
Ending school in the 11th standard would not only benefit students in terms of time but will also give them clarity of thought.
As it is already known, our education system is not a thing to be proud of. And surviving 12 years in it, conditions a person to perform like a machine.
What I’d suggest is to end school in 11th standard and then enroll students in skill development classes for a year.
Why, you ask?
Because even though lakhs of students are highly educated, recognized and awarded, they lack the necessary skills to make ends meet.
They know the subject. But to make a career out of it or to earn a living and daily wage from it is something alien to them.
In that one year of skill development cum training session, students could be given personality development classes. From improving public speaking to one’s writing skills, these classes can help in future endeavors.
Plus, these skills are necessary for surviving in a professional environment. Communication, networking, management, etc., are what a successful person possesses.
In that gap year, a student can really figure out what s/he wants to do in life, or least, what field would s/he choose to continue for the rest of their life, possibly.
Also read: Course Or College? The Dilemma That Plagues Every Student!
When students pass out from school, they are aloof
They hardly have any sense of career selection. All they know is that they have got to get admission ASAP and in the bestestestest college in the country.
Due to so much hulababula, many end up in such colleges and in such courses where they don’t belong. (Shout out to engineering students across the nation)
Now let’s take a wider view of it. Like any other idea, this can be exploitative too.
Parents, douchebag parents, could take advantage of a year gap and start enrolling their kids in coaching institutes from earlier classes only and thus, ruin their days of joy.
Because Indian parents are unique, uniquely stupid, they tend to find loopholes and abuse them incessantly. But again, they have been doing it since forever.
To sum it up, our school system is messed up. Trying a new thing with an intention to do welfare for the students and to reduce joblessness and dissatisfaction among the youth would be worth it. Or maybe not, it is debatable.
The government should deliberate upon it.
It’s time we decide:
Do we need a 12-year regressive school system or a functional school system?
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: YouthConnect, Economic Times
More blogs:
“What Would You Be Doing If You Could Drop Out Of Engineering?”, ED VoxPop
